SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – More often than not when he’s come to the Belmont Stakes, trainer Bob Baffert has had the horse to beat. In five of the 12 Belmonts in which he’s run, Baffert was attempting to complete a Triple Crown, something American Pharoah did in 2015 and Justify accomplished in 2018. In Saturday’s 157th Belmont Stakes, to be run at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga for the second straight year, Baffert sends out Rodriguez, who is listed as the 6-1 fourth choice on the morning line. Baffert believes Rodriguez is a good horse. He’s just not sure if he’s good enough – yet – to compete with the likes of Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty and Derby runner-up and Preakness winner Journalism. “He’s a horse that is getting better,” Baffert said Wednesday morning on his first day in Saratoga. “I don’t think he’s at where he’s going to be. He reminds me a lot of his sire Authentic; he didn’t get really good until the fall. September, when he won the COVID Derby, he was really coming around.” Authentic would run second in the Preakness and then win the Breeders’ Cup Classic and was crowned 2020 Horse of the Year. Rodriguez is coming off his best race, a front-running, 3 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 5 at Aqueduct. He was entered in the Kentucky Derby but had to scratch due to a quarter crack on a hind foot. Baffert said he ran out of time to make the Preakness and decided to take him home to Southern California and see how he trained before electing to run in the Belmont. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save up to 52% on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. “His last few works, he worked well, good enough to bring him up here,” Baffert said. Rodriguez has won twice from five starts. In his maiden win, going a two-turn mile, he led from the start and beat Baeza by seven lengths. After a decent second to stablemate Citizen Bull in the Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 1, Rodriguez finished third, 11 1/4 lengths behind Journalism, in the Grade 2 San Felipe on March 1. Flavien Prat rode Rodriguez in the San Felipe. “When Prat rode him he said he was just too wound up, he used himself up going to the gate,” Baffert said. “We worked with him, got his engine calm.” Baffert took blinkers off Rodriguez for the Wood Memorial, a race where Mike Smith, riding him for the first time, put him on the lead. Rodriguez never looked back, winning handily and galloping out super. “He won the Wood, but this is a different field of horses,” Baffert said. “He’s running against the best.” Baffert has run multiple horses against Journalism during the winter and spring without success. “Journalism, I have a lot of respect for him,” Baffert said. “I’ve been watching him all winter. I’ve been chasing him all winter. He just keeps getting better and better. I think he’s the horse to beat.” Evidence that Rodriguez is improving comes from Simon Harris, a New York-based exercise rider who got on the horse before the Wood Memorial and has gotten on him this week. Harris, after taking Rodriguez to the gate Wednesday and galloping once around Saratoga’s main track, told Baffert “He’s way more dialed in up here.” Before the decision by the connections of Crudo to run in the Belmont, Rodriguez looked like the main speed of the Belmont field. But Crudo has won his last two starts, including the Sir Barton at Pimlico, in front-running fashion. :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Betting Strategies by Mike Beer and David Aragona feature exclusive wager recommendations! Baffert said the presence of Crudo won’t change his plans to have Smith put Rodriguez on the lead. “He needs to be out there running,” Baffert said. “We’ve tried rating him, he just doesn’t like it. He wanted no part of it.” Baffert and Smith are both three-time Belmont Stakes winners. They teamed in 2018 to win the Triple Crown with Justify, who went gate to wire. Justify was the horse to beat. Rodriguez is a horse to fear. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.